American Sterling Uni - Online MBA - $1050 USD

[bjcheung77]

And yes, there is a catch!  They charge $50 for application fee and $100 per exam, there are 10 of them, for a total of $1050 USD.  

The catch is, they're still in the process of DEAC accreditation, so they have only got the State Authorized approval/recognition from Virginia. 

If and when they get the accreditation, they'll most likely be adding more degrees and for a similar package at the graduate level. 

I'm seeing how they pan out or if they offer any undergraduate options, this would be a viable option for international students seeking just an Nationally Accredited institution for cheap, and don't want to go for say, Ashworth/Penn Foster or U of the People...

OMG, they're using a dot com and not a dot org... that's a bummer: https://www.americansterlinguniversity.c...eStructure ; https://www.americansterlinguniversity.c...ecognition

[ss20ts]

The grammar on the fee page is horrible! It's like it was written in a foreign language and then translated by the worst translating software they could find. Why not a .edu? .com doesn't make them seem like a legit institution of higher learning. The place is highly suspicious. Facebook page has 1 like and no posts even though it was created back on January 18, 2020. Google search brings up next to nothing. No Wiki page. Foreign diploma mill?

[rachel83az]

I think .edu is only for already-accredited schools. Or unaccredited schools that bought a .edu before that rule was put into place.

[Vle045]

If you read the handbook, they say there is a $5,000 tuition, yet the site says tuition free...

[DeanLewis]

Of course, the place is not yet listed as an applicant on the DEAC "institutions to be considered" page (they're likely not yet eligible), and DEAC itself frowns on even listed applicants advertising their application, as it is NOT a sure thing at any stage. That said, it looks like a legitimate upstart, otherwise.

https://www.deac.org/Public-Notices/Inst...dered.aspx

[eLearner]

Being state-approved is a good first sign, but that site gives me an Axact vibe, and if you know the Axact situation you know that's not good. I'm also not crazy about the name at all, it just doesn't sound real, and I'm pretty sure the DEAC does not authorize schools to use their logo anywhere on their site unless they have been accredited by them so keeping it there can only start things off on the wrong foot with them.

[Vle045]

Their Facebook page was opened last year and has ONE LIKE

[Johann]

Yawn! Another site housed by GoDaddy - with a privacy screen - no names. I have no idea if this thingy originated in Moldova, Pakistan or downtown Burbank CA. And neither do YOU (anybody). Don't tell me otherwise.

They've managed to violate almost every rule for DEAC applicants WITHOUT EVEN APPLYING to DEAC. If I had a few dollars for every "school" that said they'd apply to DEAC and didn't --- I could afford Harvard! Would Harvard admit me? Probably not. So I'd get a 21 y.o. Russian girlfriend instead (I'm 78) and meet her at the airport in a Cadillac. Здравствуйте Юлия! (Hello, Yuliya!)

ss20ts said: "The grammar on the fee page is horrible! It's like it was written in a foreign language and then translated by the worst translating software they could find."

I'm pretty sure that's EXACTLY what happened. Somewhere in cyberspace. And to eLearner: State-licensed or State-authorized is NOT State-Approved. Different thingy. Most states don't have an approval mechanism. They leave that function to the usual suspects, i.e. accreditors. CA used to have a State Approval system years ago but not for a long time now...

[eLearner]

I'm pretty sure that's EXACTLY what happened. Somewhere in cyberspace. And to eLearner: State-licensed or State-authorized is NOT State-Approved. Different thingy. Most states don't have an approval mechanism. They leave that function to the usual suspects, i.e. accreditors. CA used to have a State Approval system years ago but not for a long time now...

I never said they were the same thing so I'm not sure what point you're making. I simply thought this specific school was state-approved, but at second glance I see they're only in the provisional certification process, and they're not conducting classes according to their own written information.

In any case, I disagree with the way you're differentiating the terms. Being state registered is certainly different from being state-licensed or state-authorized or state-approved (or "certified" which is a term Virginia uses for recognition of private and out of state schools) since any business can be state-registered, but the terms state-licensed/state-authorized/state-approved are terms that are used interchangeably because the usage of those terms varies from state to state but generally applies to the same intent of allowing a school to legally operate as a school in a given state. You appear to be conflating the term "approval" with the term "accreditation" because you may be aware some states that have used the term "approval" also have had or continue to have state-based accreditation systems. This is why CHEA made it a point to help correct that confusion on its "State Licensed or Authorized Institutions" page: 

"State approval and accreditation are not the same. State approval to operate signifies that institutions have satisfied certain minimum requirements established by a state. Accreditation signifies that an institution has attained a threshold level of academic quality. In most states, approval to operate does not require accreditation."

[Johann]

I'm pretty sure that's EXACTLY what happened. Somewhere in cyberspace. And to eLearner: State-licensed or State-authorized is NOT State-Approved. Different thingy. Most states don't have an approval mechanism. They leave that function to the usual suspects, i.e. accreditors. CA used to have a State Approval system years ago but not for a long time now...

I never said they were the same thing so I'm not sure what point you're making. I simply thought this specific school was state-approved, but at second glance I see they're only in the provisional certification process, and they're not conducting classes according to their own written information.

Sorry. Many people DO make the error of confusing State Approval with State Licensed, authorized etc. That's what I thought you were doing, when you wrote State Approved. They are DEFINITELY two different processes. California has had both a State Approved and State Authorized system, for unaccredited schools, at different times. For example, I believe the well-known, long-defunct California Pacific U. operated under both schemes at different times. 

Some readers view State Approved as a separate tier, below "accredited" and at the higher end of "unaccredited" - schools awarding degrees with at least some legitimacy - above those schools which have simply purchased a license and can legally award degrees without academic oversight (or any real standing,) as long as they follow the State's consumer protection laws, or whatever their license demands. The State Approved status has existed, e,g. California -- but it's relatively rare and IS separate from ordinary State permission, via registration or a license.

Other readers interchange the terms licensed, authorized with "State Approved" and treat them all as one. mixing the terms. They are not the same.

I apologize for thinking you might have ignored this difference. I think we might well have readers who perhaps  do NOT know this distinction and perhaps now some of them might be more aware. Again, sorry for jumping the gun.

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